New state funding formula boosts BCC

Bristol Community College has received a 21 percent increase in its state budget next year, the result of a new performance-based funding formula.

Auditi Guha

Bristol Community College has received a 21 percent increase in its state budget next year, the result of a new performance-based funding formula.

After years of being underfunded, the increase in state aid means the Fall River-based community college will not have to boost student fees for the first time in about five years.

BCC President John Sbrega, who was on the panel of college presidents that helped devise the performance-based funding formula, said the increase addresses "longtime inequities" among the state's 15 community colleges.

Other colleges received big increases in state aid, with Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester getting close to a 26 percent increase, an even bigger boost than BCC.

"Bristol and some other community colleges were underfunded for years," Sbrega said. "This ensures a more equitable distribution of whatever money comes to the state for higher education."

The $246 million allocated to higher education in fiscal 2014 has boosted the budgets of all 15 community colleges. BCC's 21.2 percent increase is second to Quinisigamond's 25.8 percent hike, followed by MassBay's 16.3 percent. Six community colleges tied at the bottom with 3.5 percent increases, including the scandal-racked Roxbury Community College which had historically received heavy state support.

Previously, the state doled out equal increases or decreases among all the community colleges without considering enrollment or other factors. That made BCC one of the worst funded colleges statewide despite its increasing enrollment.

The new state formula takes into account part-time student enrollment and the number of completed credits for the first time, said Katy Abel, associate commissioner for external affairs at the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education — "a historic shift" in how the state funds higher education.

"The idea of tying funding for community colleges to the performance of those colleges is new. The fact that Massachusetts community college presidents not only agreed to but led the creation of the formula is very good news," she said.

Paul Grogan, president of the Boston Foundation, said the new calculation is "a tremendous achievement" in addressing inequalities and represents "a sea change" in how community colleges are viewed.

As community colleges are key in providing opportunities to students and in creating a ready workforce for the state, it is reassuring that the increased investment will be accompanied by a level of accountability, he said.

Sbrega said that besides keeping student fees at their current level, BCC will hire more full-time faculty and support staff. A new advising center and a student success center are scheduled to open at its Fall River campus this September.

While he said he was thrilled with the increase, Sbrega said BCC continues to be underfunded.

"We still rank very low because of the historic inequities. It's going to take a few years of remediation," he said. "We are hoping this pattern of increases continues in the future."

This story also appeared in The Standard-Times, The Fall River Spirit's sister newspaper.

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